My husband and I received separate letters from our primary care physician, a woman we’ve been going to for seven years. The letter told us about “an exciting new program being offered in my practice.” There will be wellness programs, “leading-edge tools” (not revealed) and technology for “individualized treatment.” She will be reducing her practice and only be servicing these customers... er, sorry, patients. And there’s an annual fee to see her now.
When he finished being mad, my husband said, “Obamacare Derangement Syndrome.”
“Guess we’ll be looking for a new doctor,” I said.
The company involved is called MDVIP. Their member physicians charge $1500 a year for patients to receive wellness care... that ACA covers.
But here’s where the rubber really meets the Obamacare road:
“As part of healthcare reform,” the letter says, “it is expected that millions of Americans will be seeking healthcare from the same number of primary care physicians....”
In other words, my doctor is hinting she’ll be swamped with millions of unwashed minorities demanding their “free” Obamacare while you, hard-working-tax-paying-white-rich-person-with-company-paid-for-insurance might have to wait a whole extra day to see the doctor if it’s just a routine check-up!
“MDVIP will help protect our doctor-patient relationship.... As a member of an MDVIP practice, you will also enjoy on-time, unhurried routine and same-day appointments....”
I’m still trying to figure out how I can get an appointment that will be “on-time” if she’s seeing people at an “unhurried” pace. The last doctor I went to who had a policy like that kept me waiting 5 hours (not kidding).
But, yes, I get it. It’s “concierge medicine”; a way to exclude the unwashed masses surely coming to her doors.
Now, I really like this lady. She kept me alive over a holiday once, so I have more than a little reason to think well of her. But I’m also on Obamacare. Heck, I was on early Obamacare (PCIP). And before that, she was giving us a cash discount on visits because we were uninsured (we dropped our insurance when the bill ran to $1800 a month for 2 healthy people with pre-existing conditions and no one would insure us for less).
Yes, I’m writing a letter to her, explaining why she isn’t my doctor any longer. I doubt she’ll care.
To say I’m pissed is an understatement. But I’m not just mad for my family. I’m angry for all the other families whose doctors are buying into this cynical, greedy program, and depriving patients of access to an ever-dwindling pool of primary care physicians. All because the doctors are sure they’ll have to treat more people than they want to see, or won’t make enough money on what ACA pays, or are just generally greedy.
Meantime, anyone know of a good doctor in Reno who isn’t Obamacare-phobic?